Selfless sacrifice, overwhelming joy and shock

For me, these were the outstanding themes that ran through the ceremonies of Easter and Anzac Day over the last couple of weeks. Whether we focus on the death and resurrection of Jesus, or the remembrance of the sacrifices made by service men and women to earn for us the joyous freedoms that we enjoy, the message is similar. Without either sacrifice we would be in a much different world than that which we find ourselves in.

The Easter celebrations in particular give us much cause for reflection and joy. Each year we are overjoyed by the reminder of God’s unconditional love for each and every one of us and that Christ died out of love for us so that we too could look forward to eternal life. Obviously such joy brings with it responsibility. What are we doing to “Share the Good News”? In what ways do others see Christ’s love in the way that we go about our daily work?

We have also all been shocked by the terrible events in Sri Lanka over the Easter weekend. We may feel helpless to change things on a global scale but we can all work within our own spheres of influence to ensure that we are active witnesses to Jesus’ message of peace and tolerance by doing all the little things that will make our school community and the wider community places that promote the safety, wellbeing and inclusion of all.

Elsewhere in this newsletter our College Leader, Pastoral Care and Wellbeing, has provided some resources to help parents and carers work through such shocking times as these.

Welcome to Term II

I trust that everyone is relaxed after the longer than usual term break and ready to work hard to make sure that Semester I ends well. Whilst the end of Semester might seem to be a long way off, this term will no doubt fly past like any other busy term. Those who plan most effectively for the best management of their time will be the ones to reap the greatest reward from their studies.

I would encourage all families to make time to help their students to plan now a homework and study regime that will maximise the value to be gained from the learning opportunities to be provided this term.

Expect the best from our students

A very important element in helping students do well at school is what we expect. Expectations exert a tremendous influence on what students are able to achieve. Schools can improve student learning when they urge teachers and student to set their sights high – and mean it.

Just about every school, teacher and parent says they do hold high expectations for their children. But what is said may not be truly believed - and it is the belief that moves the child.

Just having high expectations is not all that is needed for students to succeed. Teaching and learning are very complex. But high expectations, from the adults in their lives, are the launching pad, the base from which students can aim for the stars and, using their own abilities and efforts, achieve their learning mission.

Hopefully we will be able to emphasise to our students the importance of having high expectations of themselves, especially in the ways in which we demonstrate that we have high expectations of ourselves.

As adults, whatever we want our students to be, we have to demonstrate it to them and be successful rolemodels for them, so they can see the benefits of what it is we are leading them to be. If we abdicate leadership, we deprive our children of guidance and create opportunities for perhaps less desirable influences to enter their lives; all the more reason for us to be upfront leaders.

If we are adults who lead, we can create opportunities for our students to thrive. We should never be apologetic about demanding high standards. Our children need us to set standards and clearly define boundaries within which there is freedom for them to make positive choices about their intended achievements and their social responsibilities. We assume leadership in this area, because we are more experienced, knowledgeable and wise. To be successful in this area, we need to be relaxed, warm and accepting whilst still being firm and insistent.

We adults can never expect to have total “guidance control” of our students; however, we can ensure that they stay well within our influence. Through our consistency they will have a conscience for life that will ensure that they bring balanced considerations to important decision-making. Like us, our students will be confronted with situations where the outcome is difficult to decide; indecision should never lead to inaction. When we are faced with tough choices, we need to brace ourselves, choose what we consider to be the best way forward and set about it in a positive manner.

This term will pass quickly as usual and it is my expectation that all students and families will work collaboratively with our highly committed staff in preparing for the end of Semester I so that each and every student is given the best opportunity to make the most of his/her talents. Hopefully very, very few students will ever be looking at their school report and thinking “If only I’d ……..”

God bless.

Michael Delaney

Principal

St Joseph's College, Echuca

Issue 6 · 02 May 2019

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